Day 02

Today I went to the second work site in Geneseo, NY. The building used to be the town's high school.

I got to observe some of the clients with whom I will be working. We (my co-intern and I) observed my supervising therapist for three back to back sessions in the morning and one session in the afternoon. The pace was definitely different today. It was faster and I am glad to be in the observation stage rather than sitting all day at a desk looking at a huge binder of important papers. It was good to see music therapy in action. In school we learn to design interventions to target specific objectives that work towards goals. While those objectives and goals absolutely exist here, they are different. The music that is the focus of the session. The music is manipulated, created, and shared to meet the client in the present moment and together the three of them (music-therapist-client) shape the experience- they add to it, take away, change it somehow. It is a fluid and organic experience. We saw four sessions total today and each one was drastically different from the next. Each client needed something different today from therapy. It's interesting observing this style and model of therapy because it is so different from what we were taught in school. There just isn't time in four years (give or take) to delve into all the different methods and models. It is exciting to see a way to do music therapy that is different, exciting and dynamic. Not to say that what we learn isn't-- but I think its like finding that perfect pair of shoes. You can be perfectly happy wearing other styles and prints, but once you find a shoe that fits and totally works for your individual and particular foot you'd never want to wear anything else.

The four clients we observed today are going to be apart of my caseload when I start leading and co-leading sessions.

We also met a ton of people today: physical therapists, occupational therapists, administrators, program directors.... the list goes on. All of them seemed excited and happy to see new interns and offered their help if we ever need it. Everyone has been really welcoming. We finished early. Two of the clients we were supposed to see this afternoon weren't there so we finished an hour early. I had time to stop for some much needed items at Wegmans. They are everywhere.

The weather has been really cold, mostly low-mid 20s plus windchill. This is definitely not what I'm used to, but I'm still enjoying it. I keep telling my supervisor that I will let him know what I grow tired of it. Hopefully that won't be any time soon as I was told today that February-March is when the worst of the weather hits this area.

Things are getting pretty busy. I have a lot to think about for my internship but am simultaneously trying to balance the other music therapy responsibilities. In addition to the usual stuff and upkeep, the western region student board is hosting a special event in a few months and have lots of do and plan for regional conference in April. Phew. The hardest part is finding a convenient time for all of the officers to meet, especially with the time difference. I'm hoping that most of the hard work happens during this observation period. Anyhow. The weather makes it easy to get things done. I don't have the urge to go outside.

Tomorrow I'm back at the main center in Newark. We are observing the Internship Director in sessions in the morning and early afternoon and then we have our first piano inservice. Hmmm, that means I better practice and look over the repertoire tonight. I better get on that. This is the first piano inservice that we'll do, but definitely not the last. I think they happen like every week or something. Maybe every two weeks. It won't be just going over repertoire or improvisation styles; we'll be discussing clinical applications too.

That's enough for today. I'm off to practice.